Three new businesses — CommonBond, HR for Health and WEO Media — have been added to the lineup of CDA Endorsed Programs that have been thoroughly researched, vetted and approved by CDA. Endorsed Programs bring members the lowest prices on products and services that their practices need from vendors they can trust. Members can get more information about these and other Endorsed Programs at CDA Presents in Anaheim May 16-18.

CDA is pleased to announce CommonBond as a CDA Endorsed Program that offers competitive student loan refinancing as a new member benefit. Student loan debt is one of the largest financial hurdles a dentist may face. The average educational debt for all indebted graduates in the class of 2018 for U.S. public and private dental schools was $251,869 and $326,133, respectively.

Attend a seminar on Oct. 21 to tap into a 360° approach to practice ownership. Free to CDA members, this comprehensive dental seminar will offer dentists strategies for starting, buying or selling a practice.

CDA Practice Support is designed to help dentists navigate the business side of dentistry with ease, and it is chock-full of valuable resources to help them run their practices. Below are the top five trending CDA Practice Support resources in the categories of practice management, employment practices, dental benefit plans and regulatory compliance.

Technology in dentistry, like in many other professions, continues to evolve. From new CAD/CAM systems, to intraoral imaging, to iPad integration — the world of dentistry constantly adds new options for practices. One key aspect of this technology shift is the prevalence of new dental software, and a recent study delved into the purchasing habits of dentists in that realm.

Dentists have often disagreed with the business model of Yelp, but a new court ruling further protects the online rating website in how it handles its marketing tactics. Specifically, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has ruled that it is legal for Yelp to manipulate its rating system to sell advertising, even though the company claims it does not currently do so.

The beginning of a new year is a good time to focus on getting patients back in the door through a patient recall effort. According to CDA Endorsed Program Intuit Demandforce, keeping existing patients coming back is almost 10 times less expensive than attracting new ones.

With 102 million monthly visitors and more than 39 million reviews, Yelp is one of the leading sources of new patient referrals for dentists. And, each referral Yelp generates adds significant revenue to a practice over the course of a year. Because claiming and optimizing a free Yelp profile has proven, positive impacts, CDA Endorsed Program ProSites recommends dentists get started.

CDA Endorsed Program ProSites Inc., has released a series of guides to help dentists navigate the multiple social media platforms that are currently available. Broken down into five categories (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+), the Ultimate Social Media Guide Series offers tips on how to use the various platforms and ideas for what to post. The guides are intended to help a practice boost its brand and have a conversation with its current and prospective patients.

In the changing landscape of the dental profession, there are many ways dental practices can implement cost-saving mechanisms in the way they do business. CDA Endorsed Program, DentalXChange, weighs in on one of those mechanisms: making the switch to Electronic Data Interchange to submit claims.